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Power electronics are usually soldered to Al₂‐O₃ direct‐bond‐copper (DBC) substrates to increase thermal diffusivity, while at the same time increasing electrical isolation. However, soldering gives rise to inherent residual stresses and out‐of‐plane deformation. The purpose of this paper is to look at the effect of soldering processes of Al₂‐O₃ DBC substrates to copper plates and power electronics, on their thermal fatigue life and warpage.

A numerical thermo‐mechanical finite element model, using the Chaboche material model, was developed to identify the thermal plastic strains evolved during soldering of DBC substrates to copper plates and power electronics. The plastic strains in conjunction with established extremely low cycle fatigue life prediction model for ductile material were used to predict the number of soldering cycles to failure. The predicted out‐of‐plane deformation and number of soldering cycles to failures was compared to realistic tests.

Soldering processes drastically reduce the thermal fatigue life of DBC substrates, giving rise to thermal cracking and premature failure. In this study the soldering process considered gave rise to out‐of‐plane deformations, consequently reducing heat dispersion in soldered DBC substrate assemblies. Furthermore, soldering gave rise to interface cracking and failed after three soldering cycles. Numerical finite element models were developed and are in good agreement with the experimental tests results.

The influence of soldering processes of DBC substrates to copper plates and electronics on the thermal fatigue life should be taken into consideration when establishing the design life of DBC substrates. Finite element models can be utilised to optimize soldering processes and optimize the design of DBC substrates.

The effect of soldering processes on DBC substrates was studied. A numerical finite element model used for the prediction of design life cycle and out‐of‐plane deformation is proposed.

Due to increasing density and high demands on electrical and thermal performance, modern packages require alternative chip interconnection and substrate technologies. Flip‐chip (FC) bonding is a suitable method for high interconnection densities. Compared with wire bonding and TAB, FC provides the highest contact density. This is due to the possibility of using the whole chip surface for bondpads (area bumps). In this paper, an adapted FC technology on green tape ceramic substrates was investigated. In order to reduce the substrate costs, FC bonding was performed directly on the thick film metallisation without the application of thin film technology for the upper substrate layers. Two solder bump metallurgies: PbSn95/5 and Au/Sn solder bumps were applied for fluxless FC bonding on adapted substrate metallisations. Fluxless soldering is performed by single chip bonding and requires substrates with narrow planarity tolerances. An alternative method using a wet eutectic Au/Sn solder paste on the substrate and Au bumps permits the application of substrates with standard planarity tolerances used in thick film applications. A common reflow of all chips of a multichip module is possible. First reliability results of metallurgical analysis and of the mechanical and electrical behaviour of the FC contacts after thermal cycling are presented.

Strain gauges can be realised by printing and firing thick‐film resistors on ceramic substrates that are usually based on alumina. However, sensing elements made on some other substrates – tetragonal zirconia or stainless steel – would exhibit some improved characteristics, either due to a lower modulus of elasticity or a higher mechanical strength. As thick‐film resistors are developed for firing on alumina substrates their compatibility and possible interactions with other kinds of substrates have to be evaluated. The sheet resistivities and noise indices of the resistors were comparable, whereas the gauge factors were lower for the dielectric‐on‐steel substrates. The temperature coefficients of resistivity (TCR) of the resistors on the ZrO₂ and dielectric‐on‐steel substrates were higher than the TCRs on the alumina substrates, which was attributed to the higher thermal expansion coefficient of the tetragonal zirconia and the stainless steel.

A novel interconnect technology, introducing thin film on a laminate substrate base, is presented. A specially constructed laminate board is used as a substrate for the thin film build‐up process. The main characteristics of the laminate core substrate are the z‐axis electrical connections, the absence of holes in the substrate and the very flat nature of the top surface. As a result, the base substrate can be processed further in a thin film processing line. The manufacturing and properties of these substrates are discussed.

A new hybrid substrate technology for power electronic applications has been characterised by thermal resistance and mechanical stress measurements. The new substrate utilises thermal spray technology for deposition of dielectric layer and electrical conductors. The results are compared with the more established technology of alumina substrates with direct copper bonding (DCB) metallisation. Silicon test chips for thermal resistance and mechanical stress measurement were used for the characterisation. The experimental results were compared with finite element analysis and a reasonable agreement was found.

The purpose of this paper is to address the influence of deposition process parameters. The substrate heating mechanisms are also discussed.

Deposition duration, sputtering power, working gas pressure, and substrate heater temperature on substrate heating in the direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposition process were investigated.

Results from the experiments show that, in DC magnetron sputtering deposition process, substrate heating is largely influenced by the process parameters and conditions.

This paper usefully demonstrates that substrate heating effects can be minimized by adjusting and selecting the proper sputtering process parameters; the production cost can be reduced by employing a higher sputtering power, lower working gas pressure and shorter deposition duration.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of solder composition and roughness on early wetting behavior and interfacial reaction under atmospheric conditions.

High-speed photography is used to observe the early wetting and spreading process of the solder on the substrate in real time. The morphology of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) was observed by scanning electron microscopy, and the composition of IMCs micro bumps was determined by energy dispersive spectroscopy.

With a roughness range of 0.320–0.539 µm, the solder is distributed in an elliptical trilinear pattern along the grinding direction. With a roughness range of 0.029–0.031 µm, the solder spreads in the direction of grinding and perpendicular, forming a perfect circle (except in the case of Sn63Pb37 solder). The effect of three types of solder on early wettability is Sn63Pb37 > Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5 > Sn. The wetting behavior is consistent with the Rn∼t model. The rapid spreading stage (Stage I) is controlled by the interfacial reaction with n1 values between 2.4 and 4. The slow spreading stage (stage II) is controlled by diffusion with n2 values between 4 and 6.7. The size of Cu6Sn5 formed on a rough substrate is greater than that produced on a smooth substrate.

Investigating the effect of solder composition and roughness on early wettability. This will provide a powerful guide in the field of soft brazing.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (FDSSCs).

In the third generation solar cells, glass was used as a substrate, which due to its high weight and fragility, was not possible to produce continuously. However, in flexible solar cells, flexible substrates are used as new technology. The most important thing may choose a suitable substrate to produce a photovoltaic (PV) device with optimal efficiency.

Conductive plastics or metallic foils are the two main candidates for glass replacement, each with its advantages and disadvantages. As some high-temperature methods are used to prepare solar cells, metal substrates can be used to prepare PV devices without any problems. In contrast to the advantage of high thermal resistance in metals, metal substrates are dark and do not transmit enough light. In other words, metal substrates have a high loss of photon energy. Like all technologies, PV devices with polymer substrates have technical disadvantages.

In this study, the development of FDSSCs offers improved photovoltaic properties.

The most important challenge is the poor thermal stability of polymers compared to glass and metal, which requires special methods to prepare polymer solar cells. The second important point is choosing the suitable components and materials for this purpose.

Dependence of efficiency and performance of the device on the angle of sunlight, high-cost preparation devices components, limitations of functional materials such as organic-mineral sensitizers, lack of close connection between practical achievements and theoretical results and complicated fabrication process and high weight.

The purpose of this paper is to predict a suitable paper substrate which has high capillary pressure with the tendency of subsequent fluid wrenching in onward direction for the fabrication of microfluidics device application.

The experiment has been done on the Whatman^TM grade 1, Whatman^TM chromatography and nitrocellulose paper samples which are made by GE Healthcare Life Sciences. The structural characterization of paper samples for surface properties has been done by scanning electron microscope and ImageJ software. Identification of functional groups on the surface of samples has been done by Fourier transform infrared analysis. A finite elemental analysis has also been performed by using the “Multiphase Flow in Porous Media” module of the COMSOL Multiphysics tool which combines Darcy’s law and Phase Transport in Porous Media interface.

Experimentally, it has been concluded that the paper substrate for flexible microfluidic device application must have large number of internal (intra- and interfiber) pores with fewer void spaces (external pores) that have high capillary pressure to propel the fluid in onward direction with narrow paper fiber channel.

Surface structure has a dynamic impact in paper substrate utilization in multiple applications such as paper manufacturing, printing process and microfluidics applications.

The electrodeposition of any metal over titanium substrates meets with many problems due to the formation of a non‐conductive layer of titanium oxide on the surface of substrates during the electroplating process. Trials were made to overcome these problems by the pre‐anodisation of titanium substrates in oxalic acid solution of concentration 100g/l, at high current density of 60‐95mA/cm^–2, and at ambient temperature. In these conditions, a thin, porous and conductive titanium oxide film can be obtained, which will then support electroplating processes. Rhodium metal was electrodeposited over the anodised titanium substrates from a bath consisting of Rh₂(SO₄)₃, 5.2g/l and H₂SO₄, 100g/l. At optimum conditions of electroplating, the rhodium electrodeposits were formed over the anodised titanium substrate with high adhesion, brightness and high current efficiency (92.05 per cent).